AL East matchups galore
Next season, the Washington Nationals will face the American League East as part of their interleague slate. Of course, the Nats already face the Baltimore Orioles six times each year, but those matchups are spread out next year (May 28-30 at Baltimore, June 19-21 at Washington).
The headline of the AL East slate might just be the home-and-home with the New York Yankees (May 15-16 at Nats Park, June 12-13 at Yankee Stadium). Nats fans will get their first in-person look at Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, but the intrigue will be around Bryce Harper.
When Harper plays at Yankee Stadium next year, the whole New York media will for sure ask him about his contract situation, if its not finalized by then. It’s pretty much a given that Harper will hear the calls from Yankee fans and the signs telling him to sign in the Bronx.
The other home-and-home the Nats have with the AL East is against the Tampa Bay Rays (June 5-6). In that series, catcher Wilson Ramos will make his first visit to Nats Park since signing with Tampa Bay this past winter.
There will also be some history next year when the Boston Red Sox will visit Nats Park (July 2-4) for the first time since 2009. As for the Nats lone AL East road visit, that will be when they head north of the border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays for three games (June 15-17).
For fans that don’t like interleague play, at least the Washington Nationals will be done playing all their American League opponents by the All-Star break.